U.N. helicopter crash kills 12

The Associated Press reported Monday 12 people died in a United Nations helicopter crash in Nepal, officials said.

The helicopter crashed about 125 miles east of Katmandu after it had flown through some bad weather, U.N. officials said. The copter was returning to the capital from a Maoist cantonment site in Nepal’s eastern mountains.

The U.N. said there were only 10 people on board, but Modraj Dotel, an official with Nepal’s Home Ministry, said police rescuers found 12 charred bodies.

On board were four U.N. arms monitors from South Korea, Indonesia, Gambia and Sweden – three U.N. staff members from Nepal, and a three-member Russian crew.

The BBC reported it took police several hours to reach the crash-site on foot because it was inaccessible by road.

In addition, the bad weather cancelled other flights in the area.

The United Nations has been aiding Nepal’s peaces process since communists rebels joined mainstream politics in 2006. Since then, the communist combatants and weapons have been under the supervision of U.N. arms monitors.